Digital Logos Edition
The James Orr Collection contains 21 volumes from one of Scotland’s most prominent nineteenth-century conservative theologians. A friend and peer of B. B. Warfield and R. A. Torrey, Orr, through his lectures and writings, criticized the modernist theology then gaining popularity. Orr’s articulate defense and authoritative view of the Bible gained him international prestige, and he lectured and preached all over the world.
The James Orr Collection contains his most influential works, including The Christian View of God and the World, Orr’s lectures on the incarnation of Christ, and Sidelights on Christian Doctrine, Orr’s popular handbook of Christian doctrine. Several works examine the problems associated with liberal theology, including two works on the Ritschlian school of thought, and numerous essays and lectures cover such issues as the Bible’s inspiration and infallibility, Christ’s virgin birth, the Gospels’ authenticity, and more.
In the Logos Bible Software edition, all Scripture passages in The James Orr Collection are tagged to appear on mouse-over. For scholarly work or personal Bible study, this makes these resources more powerful and easier to access than ever before. Perform powerful searches by topic or Scripture reference—finding, for example, every mention of “resurrection” or “Mark 9:2.”
Professor Orr is one of the most prominent of the conservative theologians of Scotland. He has genuine scholarship, a reverential spirit, and critical ability.
—Auburn Seminary Review
Doctor Orr is one of the most vigorous and indefatigable defenders of conservative positions in theology.
—The Standard
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The Christian View of God and the World contains nine lectures centering on Christ’s incarnation by James Orr. First delivered in 1891, Orr revised the lectures and added substantial notes. The lectures are as follows:
The position of Professor Orr is virtually that which was maintained by the great leaders of religious thought in the early Christian church, when the intellectual giants of Alexandria and Hippo and Milan mastered the Greek philosophy and prized it and used it.
—Homiletic Review
“The resurrection of Jesus stands fast as a fact, unaffected by the boastful waves of skepticism that ceaselessly through the ages beat themselves against it, retains its significance as a corner stone in the edifice of human redemption, and holds within it the vastest hope for time and for eternity that humanity can ever know.” The Resurrection of Jesus anthologizes 10 of James Orr’s best essays on Christ’s resurrection that originally appeared in The Expositor. Scholarly, apologetic, devotional, practical—this volume is packed with spiritual insight and application. The following essays are included:
Professor Orr, of Glasgow, is, in our judgment, the most successful apologetic writer of the present day . . . His new book is a learned, unhesitating apologetic, the only book that it is of any use to write, if we are to have apologetics at all. He has chosen his subject with unerring judgment. The Resurrection is the citadel. It is less violently attacked now than formerly, but it is still the chief object of attack.
—Expository Times
The writer has long been known as a great biblical scholar. His works along this line are in most of our minister’s libraries, and regarded as safe guides in theological thought. We have in this volume a most valuable contribution to the fundamental doctrine of Christianity. We do not know of a better book to put into the hands of our young men and women than this volume. It is exhaustive without being tiring, deep yet clear, forcible in argument and in every respect calculated to instruct concerning this great doctrine.
—Northern Advocate
This volume contains 10 essays that focus on three areas of study that help solidify the proper understanding and appreciation of revelation and inspiration in conjunction with the Bible: a positive view of the structure of the Bible, the recognition of a true supernatural revelation in its history, and a belief, in accordance with the teaching of Christ and His apostles, in the inspiration of the record. Essays include:
In The Ritschlian Theology and the Evangelical Faith, James Orr first traces the rise of the Ritschlian school and the mental development of its founder, Albrecht Ritschl. Orr then explores the relationship between Ritschlian theology and the religious systems of Kant and Lotze, and each of their theories of knowledge and religion are set forth and compared. Orr then compares the Ritschlian theology with orthodox evangelical theology, arguing in favor of the latter.
It is impossible to praise too highly Dr. Orr’s impartiality in stating the views of the various schools for which a Ritschlian filiation may be claimed, his keenness in the detection of inconsistency or weakness, his firm and courteous defense of the older faith, or the literary art with which, under the restraints of brevity, he makes difficult speculations intelligible. There is no book in English from which it is more easy or more pleasant to learn what Ritschlianism really is, in its excellencies and in its defects.
—London Quarterly Review
He recognizes the good features in Ritschl’s system, and does not hesitate to commend them, while at the same time, he points out clearly the evident departures from the accepted evangelical faith and the advantages of that faith in precision of statement and directness of appeal.
—Auburn Seminary Review
Professor Orr has done his work well. His treatment of Ritschlian Theology is scholarly, self-contained, and lucid . . . .
—Church Times
It is the best English book we have on the subject. Nothing is left unnoticed that is necessary to a proper appreciation of this influential school of theology.
—Critical Review
Neglected Factors in the Study of the Early Progress of Christianity contains three lectures originally delivered in 1897 at the Theological Seminary of Auburn, New York. James Orr shows that the influence of early Christianity upon its pagan environment was much larger than is often supposed. Lectures include:
Is a valuable contribution to the history of the subject.
—Scotsman
These lectures are able, learned, and they show that Dr. Orr has the gift of research, and of looking at things for himself.
—Aberdeen Free Press
Dr. Orr’s lectures are eminently instructive and interesting, and certainly go to intensify the sense of the mighty power which Christianity, from its first entrance into the world, exercised in everything it touched.
—Church Family Newspaper
The Progress of Dogma contains 10 lectures originally delivered in 1897 at Western Theological Seminary. Covering the history of dogma, The first six lectures deal with the early period of development, the seventh with the Middle Ages, the eighth with the Reformation, and the last two lectures with modern developments. Includes a detailed table of contents and helpful notes. The lectures are as follows:
Professor Orr has produced a valuable, timely, and most interesting contribution to an important subject.
—Critical Review
A very good piece of work . . . The story of the growth of Christian dogma from the earliest days to our own time demands high powers and considerable courage in the narrator. These qualities Dr. Orr possesses in a marked degree.
—Guardian
This volume covers the life, philosophy, and influence of David Hume. The first three chapters are devoted to a narrative of the events of Hume’s life. The next four chapters explore Hume’s epistemology, particularly his first principles, his doctrine of cause and effect, and his doctrine of substance. Orr then covers Hume’s writings on theology and morals, and then explores a few of Hume’s miscellaneous writings. Chapters include:
Dr. Orr has given us a model account of Hume and his philosophy. Written in an easy and lucid style, it sets before us first the man and the his teaching with an adequacy and sharpness of outline which leave little to be desired. The freshness and vigor with which Dr. Orr accomplishes this task are very striking and make the book a refreshing and instructive contribution to present-day thought.
Ritschlianism: Expository and Critical Essays begins with three essays outlining the basic tenets of Ritschlianism and its influence on current theological discussions. Orr then examines works by leading theologians promoting Ritschlianism thought and theology: Garvie’s Ritschlian Theology: Critical and Constructive, Swing’s Theology of Albrecht Ritschl, Harnack’s Das Wesen des Christenthums, Sabatier’s Philosophy of Religion, and McGiffert’s Apostolic Christianity. Thus, the German, French, and American representatives of the Ritschlian school are critiqued.
Dr. Orr was one of the first in this country to write of the new theological movement starting from Ritschl, and the present volume contains some of his first papers on the subject. The best proof of the care and intelligence of these essays is that they still retain their value and freshness. English readers now have sufficient materials for forming a judgment on a remarkable movement of thought.
—London Quarterly Review
These essays can be heartily recommended not only to all students of the Ritschlian theology, but to the general reader who desires to know what Ritschlianism really is.
—Glasgow Herald
God’s Image in Man and Its Defacement in Light of Modern Denials contains six lectures originally delivered in 1903 at Princeton Theological Seminary. In these essays, Orr lays out the biblical doctrines of God, man, and sin, and contrasts them against the “evolutionary” view of them. “I confess that the newer tendency to wholesale surrender of vital aspects of Christian doctrine at the shrine of what is regarded as ‘the modern view of the world’ appears to me graver than it does to many.” The lectures are as follows:
Dr. Orr has the courage to recognize and assert the irreconcilableness of the two views and the impossibility of a compromise between them; and to undertake the task of showing that the Christian view in the forum of science itself is the only tenable one. This task he accomplishes with distinguished success: and this is the significance of the volume. It will come as a boon to many who are oppressed by the persistent pressure upon them of the modern point of view. It cannot help producing in the mind of its readers a notable clearing of the air.
The Problem of the Old Testament Considered with Reference to Recent Criticism begins with a preliminary survey of the witness which the Old Testament itself bears, in its structure, and in the uniqueness of its history and religion, to its own authority and inspiration as the record of God’s revelation to His ancient people. James Orr then asks the question: how far is this view which the Old Testament gives of itself affected by the results of modern criticism? Orr then shows that the essential outlines of the patriarchal and Mosaic history and the outstanding facts of the religion and institutions of the Old Testament are not sensibly affected—that they are not, and cannot be, overturned. Orr also examines the bearing of archeology on the Old Testament, the age of the Psalter, the reality of predictive prophecy, the progressiveness of divine revelation, and much more.
The essays composing The Bible under Trial were originally published serially in The Life of Faith as a popular apologetic series in defense of the Bible. The essays are written from the standpoint of faith in the Bible as the inspired and authoritative record for us of God’s revealed will. The following essays are included:
Professor James Orr of Glasgow, who is one of the profoundest and best read of biblical scholars, and perhaps the ablest defender of conservative views in biblical criticism is the author of a volume entitled The Bible under Trial which makes a strong appeal to clergy and laity alike by its ripe scholarship and forceful and simple style.
—The Living Age
Sidelights on Christian Doctrine serves as an introductory handbook to Christian doctrine. It shows, what, in substance, theology is, to create an interest in its questions, and to remove some misconceptions as to its nature, necessity, and scope. It rests on the conviction that, however necessary it may be to state Christian doctrines constantly anew in relation to advancing knowledge, there is an essential content in the Christian system which does not change. One truth is related to another, and cannot be essentially altered without detriment to the whole system. There is a testimony to that truth in the living organism of Scripture—held here to be the self-attesting record of God’s revelation of life and salvation to the world—and on that scriptural basis, not on the changing thoughts and speculations of men, a sound theology must be reared. Chapters include:
If all the books on theology had been written with the simplicity of this one, the word ‘theology’ would never have become so formidable. When the greatest things in human life, for these are the things that theology deals with, are presented clearly and simply there is no reading so fascinating. These are the things that we think about, and these are the things that men talk about. Religion is the most interesting thing in the world and ought to be kept so.
—Record of Christian Work
What we name sin is, from the religious point of view, the tragedy of God’s universe. What it is, how it came, why it is permitted to develop itself into the havoc and ruin it surely entails, what is to be the end of it, above all, how its presence and working are to be reconciled with goodness, holiness, love, in the God who has permitted it—these are the crushing questions that press upon the spirit of everyone who thinks deeply on the subject. In its very conception sin is that which ought not to be; which ought never to have been. How, then, or why, is it here, this awful, glaring, deadly, omnipresent reality in human history and experience?
James Orr examines sin in the following chapters:
This volume is comprised of the revised and expanded lectures on early church history that James Orr originally delivered as professor of church history at the United Presbyterian College, Edinburgh. In 180 packed pages, Orr surveys the history and literature of the Christian church up to Constantine. Includes a detailed table of contents, helpful notes, a table of Roman emperors, and two appendixes with additional material. Lectures include:
Professor Orr has given an interesting, sound, scholarly, well-proportioned sketch, reflecting the latest knowledge—a book that can be cordially commended as giving the facts at once impartially and attractively.
—Methodist Review
The breadth of Dr. Orr’s learning and the sobriety of his judgment render it a very admirable guide to opinion through the mazes of this difficult period.
—The Presbyterian and Reformed Review
The Virgin Birth of Christ contains eight lectures originally delivered in 1907 in the Chapel of Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, New York. The aim of the lectures is to establish faith in the miracle of the Lord’s incarnation by birth from the Virgin, to meet objections, and to show the intimate connection of fact and doctrine in this transcendent mystery. Includes a detailed table of contents, helpful notes, and an appendix with additional material. The lectures are as follows:
The best book on the subject.
—The New-Church Review
Professor Orr does not forget that the keen assault upon the doctrine of the Virgin Birth is being made for the most part by those who reject the Incarnation and deny the supernatural, and this to him is very significant. The Appendix is hardly less valuable than the book itself, containing as it does summaries of an extracts from papers on this topic contributed by representative scholars in England, America, Holland, Germany, and France.
—Homiletic Review
It will create a profound impression, and will, without a doubt, become the standard work on the subject from the conservative standpoint. His brilliant and able statement and broad yet conservative discussion strongly recommend the book.
—The Book Buyer
While many critics of John’s Gospel focus on the discrepancies between it and the other three Gospels, James Orr decided to make a study of the “undesigned” coincidences. “Statements in the Synoptical accounts that, taken by themselves, had seemed unlikely or even contradictory, had, by the testimony of the Fourth witness, been either reconciled or rendered credible.” Orr dives his study into two parts: in the first, he examines these coincidences and in the second he answers common objections to the Gospel’s authenticity.
The Faith of the Modern Christian contains 12 spirit-filled essays covering topics such as the inspiration of the Bible, the Gospels and modern criticism, miracles, the incarnation of Christ, the teachings of Jesus, the resurrection, Protestantism and Roman Catholicism, Christianity and modern science, and much more. Packed with spiritual insight and practical application, it will inspire and challenge those seeking to deepen their understanding of the Christian faith.
In New Testament Apocryphal Writings, James Orr provides insightful introductions to 10 pieces of New Testament apocryphal writings, and then provides their English translations. Orr examines this spurious body of literature, noting their literary, artistic, historical, and doctrinal influences. Following the translations, Orr has provided helpful notes for each piece. The Apocrypha covered includes:
Professor Orr’s introduction frames the documents in their historic setting, and shows how they have influence Catholic tradition and sacred art. The little volume will be very welcome to many who have found these Apocryphal Gospels somewhat inaccessible. It will repay careful study.
—London Quarterly Review
The four essays that comprise this volume, while devoted in common to the proof of the divine origin and the universal and permanent obligation of the doctrine of the Sabbath, possess the advantage of edifying diversity in the manner in which the great subject is handled by the respective authors. This has arisen, not only from the difference in the individuality but in the nationality of the writers. One is an Irishman, a second an American, and while the two others are Scotsmen, the one is a clergyman and the other a layman. Each essayist has, in this way, drawn largely upon his own experience. Essays include:
The Reformers contains nine lectures on notable Reformers by nine different lecturers originally delivered in St. James Church, Paisley. The selection made from among the Reformers was determined by the desire to trace the general history of the Reformation, from its distant beginnings in Wycliffe and Huss, down to its accomplishment by Luther and its formulation by Calvin, taking into account by the way of kindred upheavals as represented by Savonarola, and the influence of the Renaissance as represented by Erasmus; and then to sketch the peculiar history of the Scottish Reformation from its earlier and later precursors, through its two most illustrious martyrs, to its consummation under John Knox. The lectures are as follows:
In 1894, notable German theologian Otto Pfleiderer delivered the Gifford Lectures at Edinburgh, the subject being “The Philosophy and Development of Religion.” In these lectures, Pfleiderer challenge the believability of the incarnation of Christ, the authenticity of the Gospels, and asserted that Paul believed in a merely spiritual resurrection of Jesus.
The Supernatural in Christianity presents three essays from three different lecturers in response to Pfleiderer’s lectures. Lectures include:
James Orr (1844–1913) was minister of the East Bank United Presbyterian Church in Hawick, Scotland, from 1874–1891, and professor of church history in the Theological College of the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland from 1874–1901. From 1901, he was professor of apologetics and theology at Glasgow College of the United Free Church. He was among the chief promoters for the union between the Free and United Presbyterian Churches in Scotland. He lectured at seminaries all over the world and was a prolific writer and editor.
Orr served as the editor for the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, 1915 Edition, contributed four volumes to the The Pulpit Commentary, and is featured in The Fundamentals (4 vols.).
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